Long before the Spaniards and other foreigners landed or set foot on Philippine shores, our forefathers already had their own literature stamped in the history of our race. And Our ancient literature shows our customs and traditions in everyday life as traced in our folk stories, old plays and short stories. Our ancestors also had their own alphabet which was different from that brought by the Spaniards. The first alphabet used by our ancestor was similar to that of the Malayo-Polynesian alphabet.
Spanish period is the second of the series of literary periods of growth and development of Philippine literature. Some genres such as Awit or Corrido became integrated into our own corpora. Some genres are directly imported from the European theaters and cathedrals such as Doctrina cristiana and Nuestra Señora del Rosario.